The Video Game Critic

So in another thread JWK mentioned that he was playing through Final Fantasy VII for the first time and loving.  I wanted to discuss the game, but didn't want to derail that thread.


For me Final Fantasy VII was the first time I really ever played a Japanese Role Playing Game (JRPG).  It was certainly my first Final Fantasy game.  I loved the game.  It was unlike anything I had ever played or seen before.  Many of my friends had the game and were obsessed with it.  I think I've finished it 3 or 4 times...sinking in hundreds of hours.  In one memorable session, me and my friend finished the game in one nonstop 30+ hour game session.  

So as you can tell, I'm a huge fan of the game.  It left a big impression on me and helped introduce me to J/RPGs which is one of my favorite genres in gaming.  

Over the years the game has gone on to become rather divisive among Final Fantasy fans.  In the pre-internet years I had no clue people were so vocal in their dislike of the game.  That hate has only grown with each new Final Fantasy since VII.  

You see, when a series strikes gold like Square did with Final Fantasy VII they want to continue making that cash.  So they use their massive hit as a template.  With the exception of Final Fantasy IX, pretty much all of the later Final Fantasy games use VII's DNA.  This mostly has to do with the tone, visuals and settings of the games.  You see even though 'Fantasy' is right in the title, the games have moved on from their fantasy beginnings.  Gone are stereotypical kings and princesses, knights and dragons.  Now you have outlandish outfits with zippers upon zippers...it looks like characters are designed with cosplay in mind.  Many people seem to blame VII for this aesthetic style and lack of fantasy tropes.  Yes the older games always had elements of Steam Punk, but the new games now seem to be set in futuristic metropolis...again VII is apparently to blame for this.

It's an interesting dilemma for Square Enix.  They clearly love using the 'style' that VII popularized and people in Japan eat it up too.  A HD remake of Final Fantasy VII is one of the most demanded games never to be made.

What do the rest of you think of VII?  I think it's a masterpiece and one of the best Final Fantasy games ever made.  It's also historically important as it helped mold and popularize the RPG genre for a very long time.  Its impact is still being felt today...especially among new FF titles.  The Materia system is my second favorite mechanic...right next to the Job system.  The characters are all well done and it seemed like there was something for everyone.  I miss how FF games have moved away from having weird party members.  One other forum member once described FF VII, VIII and IX cutscenes as having a 'silent movie' quality about them and I agree.  Without speech they're just magical to sit and watch.  Final Fantasy is a series I'm very passionate about and I personally think VII gets a bad rep these days.

though its been a while, i played through this many times and still remains one of my favs!

To expand upon the things that I love about the game...

I like the active time battle system.  It gave the turn based battles a sense of urgency.  I remember in some of those boss battles you'd be begging for a character's turn to come up so you could cast heal or use a phoenix down.  Very cool part of the battle system.

Another thing I loved were the limit breaks.  These special attacks were triggered by taking damage and they unleashed a very cinematic and powerful attack.  I would get so giddy when a character would get a new one. In fact I would level up every character so I could get all of their limit breaks.

I really liked the setting of the game.  Midgar specifically was a very cool place to start the game and familiarize yourself.  I remember as a kid being blown away when you finally left Midgar and that was only a tiny section of the game.  

The music for me is one of my favorite things.  It's really well crafted and there are tunes that I hum to this very day.  Aerith's theme, Tifa's theme, One Winged Angel...there is a reason I have a Nobuo Uematsu station on my Pandora Radio!

The game kept changing....you were constantly visiting new places, meeting new interesting characters, helping people, getting new weapons, spells, attacks.  There were also a slew of cool mini games that you played through that helped break things up.

I used to rank Final Fantasy VII as my all time favorite FF game.  As I've played more of them it's dropped a bit, but I still have lots of love for this game.  

Like Ozzy I haven't played this in a long time.  Funny thing is that I have almost zero desire to play it again.  I feel like I have such cherished memories of the game...they're still fresh in my mind.

I'm glad this is a topic.

Like JLH said, I just started playing this for the first time and I'm only about 10 hours in (balancing time between games has been difficult -- first world problems).  I went in with very low expectations... because of the internet.  The game has become the victim of revisionist history; not only has the game not aged well according to many, but it was never a good game to begin with.  Like the people hurling the accusations are somehow bigger people for putting down the game's polygons and popularity.  *cough* Hipsters *cough*

I love Final Fantasy VII so far.  Think about what most JRPG enthusiasts want in a great JRPG: Story, characters, setting, visuals and music.  Expect for the visuals, this game is a masterclass in the genre.  And I actually make the argument that the 2D pre-rendered backgrounds look pretty darn good; it's only the 3D polygon characters and enemies that look aged.

I look forward to the next 40 or so hours I have with the game.  FFVII was in the right place at the right time in North America.  We all know how important the game is historically, but I'm surprised at how good the game actually plays in 2014/2015.

Final Fantasy VII is the video game equivalent of an underground band releasing an album that becomes a big mainstream hit and sells millions of copies, and then their fans complain that they've lost their artistic integrity and have become sell-outs.  I mean, it couldn't be popular because it's really, really good, right? 

FFVII is without a doubt my favorite all-time RPG and probably a top 5 Playstation game for me, if not top 3, and I'm not a big RPG fan.